Report: PHL Embassy in Malaysia tightens rules for domestic helpers

Philippine officials in Malaysia have tightened the rules for new agencies bringing in Filipina domestic helpers, after Manila decided to phase out the sending of its citizens overseas to work as domestic helpers.

A report on Malaysia’s The Star cited industry sources who said the Philippine embassy was no longer giving accreditation to new maid agencies.

“Not everyone who applies will get the endorsement. We are becoming stricter to ensure that agencies abide by all requirements and terms,” it quoted Philippine labor attache Dr. Alicia Santos as saying.

But Santos also clarified the accreditation for new recruitment agencies to bring in Filipino domestic helpers was not stopped, though the process will be stricter.

Santos also said existing agencies may continue operating but the Philippine embassy will be conducting a thorough assessment on all of them.

She pointed out many agencies that pledged to follow regulations “have not been keeping to their word.”

Also, she said that while there had been discussions on imposing a moratorium, nothing is final yet.

Last week, the Philippine government directed the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) to reduce the deployment of Filipinas to work as hired help in foreign households.

This will be in stages, over the next five years, as part of the government’s efforts to protect Filipino workers from abuse by their employers.

The Star report said the phaseout plan may affect about 180 countries where Filipinas work as maids or nannies.

But it also said the Philippine government had said it may allow such workers to parts of Europe where salaries were high for certain types of domestic labor.

Besides, the embassy in Malaysia said many of those seeking jobs as domestic workers were overqualified.

Demand for Pinay maids

Santos was quoted in the report as saying the demand for Filipina maids in Malaysia has been increasing since 2009, because helpers from the Philippines were highly trained in household chores and could speak English.

The minimum wage for Filipina domestic workers is set at US$400 (RM1,240) per month. By comparison, Indonesians’ wages were between RM600 and RM800.

Accreditation

Santos said they are still discussing with higher authorities whether to strip agencies of their accreditation if they were found to have violated the rules.

“The major issues faced with employment agencies here concern payment of salaries as well as the welfare and protection of our citizens,” she said.

There are now about 10,000 Filipina domestic workers in Malaysia, compared to 4,000 in 2009.

The Star report cited figures from the POEA showing some 499,495 household service workers went abroad over the past six years.

More than 70,000 of them secured jobs overseas in the first half of 2012. — LBG, GMA News